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Thomas Vinterberg Dedicates His ‘Another Round’ Oscar Win To His Late Daughter In An Emotional Speech

By Rachel West.

Thomas Vinterberg, winner of the International Feature Film award for "Another Round".

Accepting the Oscar for Best International Feature for “Another Round”, Danish director Thomas Vinterberg delivered an emotional speech dedicated to his late daughter, Ida.

“This is a film about letting control of life as I lost control of my own,” Vinterberg says. Four days into the production on the Danish-language “Another Round”, Vinterberg’s daughter, Ida, and his ex-wife Maria were in a car accident. The other driver was distracted by a cell phone. Maria suffered injuries, but Ida died instantly. She was 19.

Encouraged by his cast including longtime friends and collaborators, Mads Mikkelsen and Thomas Bo Larsen, Vinterberg ploughed on through his grief to direct the film after taking a hiatus from production.

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“I want to send a special thanks of course to Mads Mikkelsen. Mads, you gave us your finest. Not just for the film, but for my daughter as well, and I’ll never forget it,” Vinterberg, 51, says in his speech, taking a pause.

“Another Round” tells the story of four friends who begin an experiment to see if their lives would be improved by maintaining a constant level of alcohol in their blood.

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“We wanted to make a film that celebrates life and four days into shooting the impossible happened. An accident on the highway took my daughter away. Someone looking into his cell phone. And we miss her and I love her,” he says, fighting back tears.

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“Two months before we shot this movie and two months before she died, she was in Africa and she sent me a letter — she’d read the script and she was glowing with excitement. She loved this and she felt seen by this,” Vinterberg explains. “She was supposed to be in this and if anyone dares to believe that she’s here with us now you’ll be able to see her, clapping and cheering us.”

“We ended up making this movie for her, as her monument. Ida, this is a miracle that just happened. And you’re part of this miracle. Maybe you’ve been pulling some strings, but this one is for you,” he says, ending his speech.

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